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The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a 1997 American science fiction adventure film and the second installment in the Jurassic Park film series. A sequel to 1993's Jurassic Park and loosely based on Michael Crichton's 1995 novel The Lost World, the film was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by David Koepp. The film stars Jeff Goldblum, returning as the chaos-theorist and eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, and Arliss Howard. Taking place four years after the events of the original film, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) sends a team, led by Malcolm, to Isla Sorna, the second island InGen used to make the dinosaurs, to study the animals while coming into conflict with a team led by InGen to bring some of the dinosaurs back onto homeland. After the original book's release and the first film's success, fans pressured Crichton for a sequel to his novel Jurassic Park. Following the book's publication in 1995, production began on a film sequel. Filming took place from September to December 1996, primarily in California, with a shoot in Kauai, Hawaii, where the first film was shot. The Lost World's plot and imagery is substantially darker than Jurassic Park. It makes more extensive use of computer-generated imagery to depict the dinosaurs, along with life-sized animatronics. Released on May 23, 1997, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals and action sequences, but criticized the writing and character development. The film was a box office success, grossing over $618 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest grossing film of 1997. It earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. A sequel, Jurassic Park III, was released on July 18, 2001. Plot John Hammond invites mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm to discuss a recent incident, four years after the chaos on Isla Nublar. Malcolm learns that InGen, now headed by Hammond's nephew Peter Ludlow, created the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park on Isla Sorna, which has recently been discovered by a wealthy family. To prevent Ludlow exploiting the creatures in order to save InGen's future, Hammond asks Malcolm to lead a team who will document the dinosaurs in order to attract support against human interferenced. Malcolm reluctantly agrees when he learns that his girlfriend, paleontologist Dr. Sarah Harding, was hired and went on ahead, but states his intention to retrieve her. Malcolm travels to Isla Sorna with Eddie Carr, an equipment specialist and engineer, and Nick Van Owen, a video documentarian and activist, but is shocked to find his daughter Kelly stowed away with them on their mobile base. Shortly after finding Sarah, the group discover Ludlow is also on the island with a team of hunters and mercenaries, including big game hunters Roland Tembo, Dieter Stark and Ajay Sidhu, and paleontologist Dr. Robert Burke. Visiting their camp at night, the group find that Ludlow is planning to ship the captured specimens to a theme park in San Diego and so raid the site with Owen's help, freeing the captured dinosaurs who soon proceed to wreck havoc across the camp. Before returning to their base, Sarah retrieves an injured Tyrannosaurus rex infant that Tembo hoped to use to hunt its male parent, and ask Owen to help her treat it. Despite their good intentions when the parents find the infant, the Tyrannosaurus destroy the base, killing Carr as he tries to save the others. After they disappear, the group find themselves rescued by Ludlow's team, both of whom are forced to work together after losing all their equipment. With the parents pursuing them, both teams focus on reaching an abandoned InGen site to call for help. However, the journey proves disastrous - Stark is separated and killed by a pack of Compsognathus; the parents catch up with the group, causing most to panick into a field of long grass, where both they and Ajay are slaughtered by Velociraptors; and Burke is devoured by the female Tyrannosaurus while trying to hide with some of the group in a waterfall cave. While Tembo and Ludlow go missing, Malcolm, Sarah, Kelly and Owen manage to reach the InGen base despite being pursued by Velociraptors, and call for help. After being rescued, Owen reveals that he stole Tembo's ammunition to prevent him killing his intended trophy, but witness that Tembo and Ludlow survived and secured the male Tyrannosaurus with tranquillizers. As Ludlow congratulates the hunter on his success, while InGen personnel arrive on the island to secure it and its infant for transportation, Tembo terminates his employment, questioning the cost of Ludlow's scheme. A few days later, Malcolm and Sarah attempt to meet with Ludlow in San Diego to convince him to abandon his plans, only for the ship carrying the male Tyrannosaurus to suddenly crash into the docks. Unaware of the danger when the crew is found to have been killed, the male is accidentally released and goes on a rampage to secure food and water. To end its rampage, Malcolm and Sarah secure the infant, after learning from Ludlow that it was taken to the San Diego Park, and use it to lure the parent back to the docks. Ludlow pursues after them when they lead the parent to the ship, whereupon he chases after the infant when it is left in the hold, and is promptly killed by both it and its parent. Police soon secure the site, after Sarah tranquillizes the male and Malcolm seals it and the infant in the ship's hold. In the aftermath of chaos, with both dinosaurs returned to Isla Sorma, Hammond reveals in a televised news interview that the American and Costa Rican governments have declared the island as a nature preserve, finishing the interview with same words Malcolm once said to him before - "life will find a way". Cast * Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm: A mathematician and chaos theorist. * Julianne Moore as Dr. Sarah Harding: Malcolm's girlfriend and a behavioral paleontologist. * Vince Vaughn as Nick Van Owen: An experienced "documentarian," photo journalist and environmentalist. * Pete Postlethwaite as Roland Tembo: A big-game hunter who adheres to his own strict moral code. * Vanessa Lee Chester as Kelly Curtis: Malcolm's teenage daughter who stows away in a trailer. * Arliss Howard as Peter Ludlow: Hammond's nephew and wealthy new CEO of InGen who wants to build a San Diego version of Jurassic Park. * Richard Attenborough as John Hammond: The former CEO of InGen who takes steps to redeem himself and preserve Isla Sorna. * Peter Stormare as Dieter Stark: The second-in-command of the InGen harvesters under the control of Roland Tembo. * Harvey Jason as Ajay Sidhu: Roland Tembo's hunting partner. * Richard Schiff as Eddie Carr: A "field equipment expert". He saves his friends' lives by surrendering his to the Tyrannosaurs. * Thomas F. Duffy as Dr. Robert Burke: The InGen hunters' paleontologist * Ariana Richards as Lex Murphy: Hammond's granddaughter. * Joseph Mazzello as Tim Murphy: Lex's younger brother. Creatures on screen While Jurassic Park featured mostly the animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston's team, The Lost World relied more on the computer-generated imagery of Industrial Light & Magic. This meant the film featured larger shots that offered plenty of space for the digital artists to add the dinosaurs. Although technology had not advanced much since the release of the first film, Spielberg noted that "the artistry of the creative computer people" had advanced: "There's better detail, much better lighting, better muscle tone and movement in the animals. When a dinosaur transfers weight from his left side to his right, the whole movement of fat and sinew is smoother, more physiologically correct." Winston said, "I wanted to show the world what they didn't see in 'Jurassic Park': more dinosaurs and more dinosaur action. 'More, bigger, better' was our motto." Some of the animatronics cost $1 million and weighed nine and a half tons. Michael Lantieri, the special effects supervisor, said, "The big T. rex robot can pull two Gs of force when it's moving from right to left. If you hit someone with that, you'd kill them. So, in a sense, we did treat the dinosaurs as living, dangerous creatures." * Compsognathus, nicknamed "Compies" by Stan Winston's crew, are a small carnivorous theropod which attacks in packs. Visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren considered them the most complex digital dinosaur. Their small size meant the Compys had their whole body visible and thus needed a higher sense of gravity and weight. A simple puppet Compsognathus was featured in the opening scene, and the part where Dieter Stark was killed by the pack had Peter Stormare wearing a jacket onto which various rubber Compies were attached. * Gallimimus was shown fleeing from the InGen Hunters. * Mamenchisaurus was shown on the game trail scene where an InGen hunter drove his motorcycle in-between the sauropod's legs. * Pachycephalosaurus was shown being hunted down by the InGen hunters. * Parasaurolophus was shown being hunted down by the InGen hunters. * Stegosaurus was, according to Spielberg, included "by popular demand". Stan Winston's team built full-sized versions of both the infant and adult Stegosaurus, but Spielberg eventually opted to employ a digital version for the adults so they could be more mobile. * Triceratops was shown being hunted down by the InGen hunters. * Tyrannosaurus is featured as a family, with two adults and an infant. Featuring two practical T. rexes required double the work and puppeteers. They also had to have the sets built around the animatronics, so they would not need to leave the soundstage. The baby T. rex had two different practical versions, a "fully contained" remote controlled version the actors could carry, and a hybrid operated by both hydraulics and cables which lay on the operating table, and had the added complexity of moving as Vince Vaughn held its head. * Velociraptor had a mechanical version which depicted the upper half of its body, and a digital full-motion computer raptor. * Pteranodon makes an appearance at the film's end. Production Pre-production After the release of the novel Jurassic Park in 1990, Michael Crichton was pressured by fans for a sequel novel. Having never written one, he initially refused. While shooting the novel's film adaptation, Jurassic Park, director Steven Spielberg believed that if a sequel film were made, it would involve the retrieval of a canister that contained dinosaur DNA lost during the events of the first film. Talk of a sequel film began after the 1993 release of Jurassic Park, which was a financial success. Spielberg held discussions with David Koepp and Crichton, who wrote the previous film, to talk about possible ideas for a sequel. The production schedule for a second Jurassic Park film was dependent on whether Crichton would write a sequel to the first novel. In March 1994, Crichton said there would probably be a sequel novel and sequel film, saying he had a story idea for another novel, which would then be adapted into a film. At the time, Spielberg had not committed to directing the new novel's film adaptation, as he planned to take a year off from directing. In March 1995, Crichton announced that he was nearly finished writing the sequel, scheduled for release later that year, although he declined to specify its title or plot. At the time of this announcement, Spielberg had signed on to produce the film adaptation, with filming to begin in summer 1996 for release in 1997. Spielberg was busy with his new DreamWorks studio and had not decided if he would direct the film, saying, "I'd love to direct it, but I just have to see. My life is changing." Joe Johnston, who offered to direct the sequel, directed the following film, Jurassic Park III. A production team was assembled in spring 1995, as Crichton was finishing the second novel, titled The Lost World; simultaneously, Spielberg and Koepp were developing ideas for the screenplay. Crichton's novel was published in September 1995, while Spielberg was announced as director for the film adaptation in November 1995. Production designer Rick Carter traveled to the Caribbean, New Zealand, and Central America to scout possible filming locations. By February 1996, northern New Zealand had been chosen as a filming location. While the first film had been shot in Kauai, Hawaii, the filmmakers wanted to shoot the sequel in a different location with new scenery. New Zealand was also chosen because it was believed to better represent a real dinosaur environment. Crichton wanted the film to be shot on Kauai. In August 1996, it was announced that Humboldt County, California, had been chosen as the filming location instead of New Zealand, where filming would have been too costly. Humboldt County offered financial incentives that would keep the film's production costs lower. Other locations that had been considered were Costa Rica and Oregon. Filming locations in Humboldt County were to include the redwood forests of Eureka, California. This location was picked because research indicated dinosaurs did not inhabit tropical habitats, but forests like the ones in Eureka. Writing The plot for Crichton's Lost World novel involves a second island with dinosaurs but no reference to the canister of dinosaur DNA (the canister was later used as a plot aspect in a rejected early draft for Jurassic Park IV). After the novel was finished, Crichton was not consulted about the sequel film, and it was not until he declined to approve certain merchandising rights that he received a copy of the script. Kathleen Kennedy, the film's executive producer, and producer of Jurassic Park, said, "In the same way Michael doesn't see writing as a collaboration, Steven went off and did his own movie. When Michael turned the book over to Steven, he knew his work was finished." Spielberg and Koepp discarded many of the novel's scenes and ideas, choosing instead to devise a new story while including the two ideas from the novel that Spielberg liked: a second island populated with dinosaurs, and a scene where a trailer dangles from a cliff after being attacked by T. rexes. To prepare before writing the script, Spielberg was more insistent that Koepp watch the 1925 film, The Lost World, than he was on having him read Crichton's novel, which Koepp also did. During an early meeting with Koepp, Spielberg determined that while the primary conflict of the original film involved herbivorous dinosaurs vs. carnivorous dinosaurs, the script for the new film should involve humans who are "gatherers" (observers of the dinosaurs) and "hunters" (who capture the dinosaurs for a zoo). Koepp said the plot of the 1962 film Hatari! — about African animals being captured for zoos — had "a big influence" on The Lost World's script. Koepp named the characters Roland Tembo and Nick Van Owen as a reference to one of his favorite songs, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner", by Warren Zevon. Koepp said "since Roland is a mercenary in the song, that seemed like a good name for the hunter-for-hire in our movie. While I was at it, I thought it would be fun to make his nemesis' last name Van Owen, like in the song." Crichton's novel revolves around Malcolm's team and a rival team led by InGen's corporate rival, Biosyn, which was written out of the film adaptation in favor of two competing InGen teams. Several characters from the novel were excluded from the film adaptation, including Lewis Dodgson, the leader of the Biosyn team, and field equipment engineer Doc Thorne, whose characteristics were partially implemented in the film's version of Eddie. Spielberg regretted excluding a scene from the script that would have depicted characters on motorcycles attempting to flee raptors, similar to a sequence in the novel. An alternate version of the scene was added to the 2015 film, Jurassic World. Dieter's death scene was inspired by John Hammond's death in the first novel, where Procompsognathus kill him. The film's opening scene came from an early chapter in the first novel that was not used in the film adaptation, where a Procompsognathus bites a girl on a beach. The first novel included a scene where characters hide behind a waterfall from a T. rex; this scene was not used in the first film but was added into The Lost World: Jurassic Park. According to paleontologist Jack Horner, the film's technical advisor, part of the waterfall scene was written in as a favor to him by Spielberg. Burke greatly resembles Horner's rival Robert Bakker. In real life, Bakker argues for a predatory T. rex while Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. Spielberg had Burke written into this part to have him killed by the T. rex as a favor to Horner. After the film came out, Bakker, who recognized himself in Burke and loved it, actually sent Horner a message saying, "See, I told you T. rex was a hunter!" In the original script, the film ended with an aerial battle, where Pteranodons attack the helicopter trying to escape Isla Sorna. Three weeks before filming began, Spielberg suggested the T. rex's attack through San Diego instead. He was interested in seeing dinosaurs attacking the mainland. Initially, Spielberg wanted this scene to be saved for a third film but later decided to add it to the second one when he realized he would probably not direct another film in the series. The sequence was inspired by a similar attack scene involving a Brontosaurus in London in the 1925 version of The Lost World, adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name, both of which inspired the title for Crichton's novel. Koepp wrote a total of nine drafts for the film. Casting In November 1994, Richard Attenborough said he would reprise his role as John Hammond from the first film. In 1995, Spielberg met Vanessa Lee Chester at the premiere of A Little Princess, in which she appeared. Chester later recalled, "As I was signing an autograph for him, he told me one day he'd put me in a film." Spielberg met with Chester the following year to discuss The Lost World: Jurassic Park before ultimately casting her as Malcolm's daughter, Kelly. In April 1996, Julianne Moore was in discussions to star in the film alongside Jeff Goldblum. Spielberg had admired Moore's performance in The Fugitive. In June 1996, Peter Stormare was in final negotiations to join the cast. In August 1996, it was announced Vince Vaughn had joined the cast. Spielberg was impressed with Vaughn's performance in the film Swingers, which he saw after the filmmakers asked his permission to use music from his earlier film, Jaws. After meeting with Spielberg, Vaughn was cast without having to do a screen test. Filming Filming began on September 5, 1996, at Fern Canyon, part of California's Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It continued for two weeks in other state parks and on private land in northern California, including Eureka. Throughout the fall of 1996, filming continued on stages at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Site B workers village was constructed there and left intact after filming to become a part of the theme park tour. For the scene where a trailer dangles from a cliff, a whole mountainside was built over the structure of Universal's multi-storey car park. In October 1996, it was announced that filming would take place over five days in December at New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, where the film's opening sequence was to be shot. Scenes involving Hammond's residence were shot during the final week of filming, at Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena, California. A scene where Vaughn's character emerges from a lake was also shot in Pasadena. In early December 1996, plans to film in Fiordland were abruptly cancelled. Principal photography concluded ahead of schedule on December 11, 1996. However, in mid-December 1996, plans were approved to shoot the opening sequence on a beach in Kauai after the cancellation of the New Zealand shoot. Filming in Kauai was underway on December 20, 1996, with plans to finish two days later. Although Spielberg was in Kauai at the time, and had visited the production, the opening sequence was filmed by a second unitcrew. Although the T. rex's rampage takes place in San Diego, only one scene was shot there. In it an InGen helicopter flies over the wharf and banks towards the city. The other sequences were all shot in Burbank, California. Scenes set in San Diego were shot behind barricades to maintain secrecy; Spielberg noted that, "It looked like road-repair work was going on." Various members of the film crew were featured running from the Tyrannosaurus, with screenwriter David Koepp playing the "Unlucky Bastard" who is eaten during a scene set in San Diego. Music For the sequel, composer John Williams avoided using most of the previous film's main themes, writing a more action oriented score. The soundtrack was released on May 20, 1997. It, along with the soundtrack to the first movie, was re-released and remastered on November 29, 2016. Release The Lost World: Jurassic Park premiered on May 19, 1997, at a Cineplex Odeon theater in Universal City, California. The Los Angeles Times called the premiere "low-key". The film opened on May 23, 1997 receiving the widest release for a film to date opening in 3,565 theaters. Marketing and promotion On February 10, 1997, Universal announced a $250 million marketing campaign with 70 promotional partners. It was even more extensive than that of Jurassic Park. The leading partners were Burger King, whose promotion was concurrent with one for another Universal dinosaur-based franchise, The Land Before Time; JVC and Mercedes-Benz, whose products are featured in the movie; and Timberland Co., making its first film tie-in. Another partner was a then-sister company of Universal under Seagram, Tropicana Products. Other promotional partners included Hamburger Helper and Betty Crocker, while General Mills introduced Jurassic Park Crunch cereal. Promotional spots were also aired on Universal and Gingo Animation's TV programming block the Gingo Lineup. Derivative works included various video games, including both a pinball machine and an arcade game by Sega, and a four-part comic series released by Topps Comics. Other promotional items included a toy line of action figures by Kenner and remote-controlled vehicles by Tyco, as well as a board game by Milton Bradley Company. Also produced were Hershey's chocolate bars that featured holographic dinosaur patterns. Universal hoped for promotional profits to exceed $1 billion. In December 1996, a special version of the film's teaser trailer debuted at 42 theaters in the United States and Canada, at a cost of $14,000 for each theater; the trailer used synchronized strobe lights that mimicked lightning during a rain scene. The film's first trailer was aired on January 26, 1997, during Super Bowl XXXI. A detailed website for the film was also created, and provided backstory for characters and events not referenced in the film. Shortly after the film's release, hackers broke into the website and briefly changed the film's logo to feature a duck instead of a T. rex. The film's title in the logo was also changed to The Duck World: Jurassic Pond. Universal denied that the hacking was a publicity stunt to promote the film, stating that it was traced to a "16-year-old hacker kid from back East." The website was still online as of 2018. Home media The film made its VHS and LaserDisc debut on October 21, 1997. Fox Network paid $80 million for the broadcasting rights of The Lost World, which debuted on November 1, 1998. The television version was expanded with deleted scenes, that included John Hammond's ouster by InGen executives. The Lost World: Jurassic Park was first released on a Collector's Edition DVD on October 10, 2000, in both Widescreen and full screen versions, in a box set with its predecessor Jurassic Park. The films were also featured in a deluxe limited edition box set featuring both DVDs, soundtrack albums, two lenticulars, stills from both films, and a certificate of authenticity signed by set's producers, inside a collector case. After the release of sequel Jurassic Park III, box sets including all three movies were also made available, as Jurassic Park Trilogy on December 11, 2001, and as the Jurassic Park Adventure Pack on November 29, 2005. The Lost World was first made available on Blu-ray on October 25, 2011, as part of a trilogy release. The entire Jurassic Park film series was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on May 22, 2018. Reception Box office The Lost World took in $72.1 million on its opening weekend ($92.6 million for the four-day Memorial Day holiday) in the U.S., which was the biggest opening weekend at the time, surpassing the previous record-holder Batman Forever at $52.8 million. It held this record for four and a half years, until the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in November 2001. The Lost World took the record for highest single-day box office take of $26.1 million on May 25, a record held until the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. It also became the fastest film to pass the $100 million mark, achieving the feat in just six days. However, despite these records, its total box office gross fell below the total of the original film. It grossed $229.1 million in the U.S. and $389.5 million internationally, for a total of $618.6 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 1997 behind Titanic. The film sold an estimated 49,910,000 tickets in North America. Critical response On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 70 reviews and an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Lost World demonstrates how far CG effects have come in the four years since Jurassic Park; unfortunately, it also proves how difficult it can be to put together a truly compelling sequel." On Metacritic, the film has an average rating of 59/100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Accolades Coming soon! Category:Films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:1990s Category:1997 Category:Jurassic Park Category:The Lost World: Jurassic Park Category:Amblin Entertainment films Category:Sequel films Category:PG-13-rated films Category:Live-action films